WE GATHER IN GOD’S PRESENCE:

Lighting the Candle (John 12:46,47):  

Jesus said: ⁴⁶ I have come as light into the world,

so that everyone who believes in me

should not remain in the darkness. 

⁴⁷ I do not judge anyone who hears my words

and does not keep them,

for I came not to judge the world,

but to save the world. –

Let us be mindful of each other as we engage in worship,

those who worship at home

and those who worship in the chapel:

Greeting:

The Lord be with you AND ALSO WITH YOU

We Focus on God     Psalm 78

Listen, my people, to my teaching;
    tilt your ears toward the words of my mouth.    

WE’LL TELL THE NEXT GENERATION
    ALL ABOUT THE PRAISE DUE THE LORD AND HIS STRENGTH—
    THE WONDROUS WORKS GOD HAS DONE.
⁶ This is so that the next generation
    and children not yet born will know these things,
        and so they can rise up and tell their children
⁷  TO PUT THEIR HOPE IN GOD—
   NEVER FORGETTING GOD’S DEEDS,
   BUT KEEPING GOD’S COMMANDMENTS—

We Sing: TIS 116 BEGIN MY TONGUE, SOME HEAVENLY THEME 6vv

Prayer

God of grace and truth,

we have received your invitation

offered through Jesus Christ,

and come with gratitude into your presence.

We offer our focus on you

not only in worship now,

but desire to remain focussed on you in all of our living,

in response to your mercy extended towards us;

Grant us to be wise in our living,

alert to your presence

and the significance of the signs around us…

Strengthen us to stay spiritually alert

even in the days of our physical and mental decline…

that we might rejoice in your coming kingdom,

the kingdom for which we pray

in the words Jesus has given us…

therefore we pray as our Lord taught us to pray:

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours

now and forever. Amen

WE LISTEN FOR A WORD FROM GOD

Prayer for Illumination

HOLY AND MERCIFUL GOD,

THROUGH YOUR HOLY SPIRIT

INSTRUCT US

THAT WE MIGHT RIGHTLY UNDERSTAND

THE WORD OF TRUTH

AND FIND OURSELVES AS PEOPLE

WHO REFLECT THE LIVING WORD,

JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD,   AMEN

Scripture

ROMANS 14

 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarrelling over opinions. ² Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. ³ Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgement on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgement on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶ Those who observe the day, observe it in honour of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to God.

⁷ We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸ If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgement on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God. ¹¹ For it is written,

‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
    and every tongue shall give praise to God.’

¹² So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

¹³ Let us therefore no longer pass judgement on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling-block or hindrance in the way of another. ¹⁴ I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵ If your brother or sisteris being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. ¹⁶ So do not let your good be spoken of as evil. ¹⁷ For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸ The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. ¹⁹ Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual edification

In this is the Word of the Lord   WE HEAR AND REJOICE, O LORD

MATTHEW 25:1-13

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten young bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. ² Now five of them were wise, and the other five were foolish. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but didn’t bring oil for them. ⁴ But the wise ones took their lamps and also brought containers of oil.

⁵ “When the groom was late in coming, they all became drowsy and went to sleep. ⁶ But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Look, the groom! Come out to meet him.’

⁷ “Then all those bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. ⁸ But the foolish bridesmaids said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps have gone out.’

⁹ “But the wise bridesmaids replied, ‘No, because if we share with you, there won’t be enough for our lamps and yours. We have a better idea. You go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ But while they were gone to buy oil, the groom came. Those who were ready went with him into the wedding. Then the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the other bridesmaids came and said, ‘Lord, lord, open the door for us.’

¹² “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “Therefore, keep alert, because you don’t know the day or the hour.

This is the Gospel of our Lord  PRAISE TO YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST

Prayer of Confession

Holy and demanding God,

you reconcile us to yourself

through your own action in Jesus Christ

to welcome us to be your holy people…

a Spirit people who are:

a people of righteousness,

a people of peace,

a people of joy  (Romans 14:17)

We come confessing that only too often

we forget whose we are,

and overlook the need constantly to check our recalibration,

instead slipping back so easily into measuring ourselves

and our lives according to contrary standards

to those of your kingdom…

-silence-

Lord have mercy LORD HAVE MERCY

We come confessing that only too often

we forget whose we are,

and that our calling is that of building community

as a people of peace…

instead getting caught up in the need to be right

which divides rather than unites,

Christ have mercy  CHRIST HAVE MERCY

We come confessing that only too often

we forget whose we are,

and ignore your Spirit’s gift of holy joy

instead taking on board the pessimism of our contemporaries…

Lord have mercy,   LORD HAVE MERCY

Word of reconciliation

We heard:

 ⁸ If we live, we live to the Lord,

and if we die, we die to the Lord;

so then, whether we live or whether we die,

we are the Lord’s. 

⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again,

so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

We remain the Lord’s, in life and in death…

secure in what Christ has achieved

through his death and resurrection,

so we say with joy in our hearts…

THANKS BE TO GOD

Passing the Peace.. as we raise our hands in blessing to those unseen…
The peace of the Risen Lord be with you all  AND ALSO WITH YOU.

We Sing:  TIS 563 LET HIM TO WHOM WE NOW BELONG 5vv

Contemporary Word  

Paul urged the Roman Christians:

Welcome those who are weak in faith,

but not for the purpose of quarrelling over opinions…

I must confess I more often than not struggled

with Paul’s argument in this section of Romans, chapter 14:1 to 15:13.

Byrne explains the structure of this section as follows:^[1]

The sequence as a whole is bound together by an “inclusion”

remember, like two book-ends holding together a row of books…

formed by the theme of “acceptance”:

the opening summons (14:1)

to accept the person weak in faith

Welcome those who are weak in faith,

(because God has accepted that person,

for God has welcomed them v 3)

is matched by the culminating appeal (15:7)

to “accept one another, just as Christ has accepted you.”

This final appeal continues down to the end

of the illustration of Christ’s example in welcoming us,

concluding with the blessing

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,

so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit…

In the days of my youth I developed a cynical thematic summary

of Paul’s instruction here… the tyranny of ‘the weak…’

   Every time we younger members of the congregation

of which I was then a member,

came up with some new, fresh idea…

the response of the leadership would be,

ah, this might upset some of the older members,

and you know what Paul said about that in Romans!

Not only that, an elder at times would sidle up to me

and say in a serious, but soft tone:

I hear you have been seen with some people in a pub

I would affirm that could be the case,

but then make it quite clear that I did not drink any alcoholic beverage!

The response would be an appeal to this section of Romans

with the concluding words something like,

ah, but it is the appearance,

someone might see you and think it’s OK to drink in a pub,

not realising you did not drink alcohol…

and hey presto, you have created a stumbling block for that person!

The same argument was used in regard to going to the movies,

or attending Banyo High school dances,

(where I never danced, nothing to do with theological convictions,

but an incredibly social awkwardness which meant I never gathered

the mythical Dutch courage to ask a girl to dance,

instead I managed the soft drinks sales counter);

be careful what you do, I would be told,

someone might misunderstand,

and you would be a cause of their tripping up…

the tyranny of the weak,

that’s the interpretation I gave this slab of scripture.

What did Paul have in mind when he wrote these instructions?

What was the situation he was addressing here?

The earliest Christians were torn apart by disagreements

over what it meant to be faithful.

Their differences were primarily over which laws of the first covenant were essential to follow

and which engagements with the complex religious activities

of the Roman Empire must be avoided.^[2]

The technical Jewish legal term “unclean” (koinos) in 14:14.

¹⁴ I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean

makes it hard to explain the eating meat issue on any basis other than Jewish religious sensitivities.

Moreover, there is evidence of strict Jews abstaining from certain dishes

in circumstances (pagan environments)

where correct implementation of what the food laws required

could not be guaranteed;

a Biblical example being Daniel, see Dan 1:8, 12, 16;

It could be that the weak in faith abstained from eating meat because,

in a pagan environment,

they could not be sure that it had been slaughtered

in accordance with the law’s requirements

(E.G. the blood properly drained: Lev 3:17; 7:26–27; 17:10–14).

Another concern would be the possibility that meat sold in the open market may have come from animals used in pagan sacrifice—

the issue that agitated Paul’s converts in Corinth,

eliciting from him a parallel but by no means identical response

(1 Corinthians 8–10).

The scruples of the weak in faith would then have stemmed

from a more general Jewish (and Christian) abhorrence of idolatry

and/or a sense that blood contained the divine principle of life,

whereas a “stronger” faith has found its way

to a surer sense of the boundaries between the divinity

and the created world.

(Abstention from wine could be similarly explained

on the basis that at some stage prior to its being sold

it might have been associated with the libations

customary in pagan worship.)^[3]

It is vital to note here that Paul does not enter into the actual issues of the debate, even though he identifies himself as a strong one!

What is immediately apparent in this argument is that Paul does not focus on the sources or causes of differing perspectives,

such as ethnic divisions, or on the differing perspectives themselves,

such as eating anything or eating only vegetables,

and treating all days alike or treating some days as distinctive.

He focuses, instead, on the attitudes towards others

who have made different decisions about these issues.^[4]

The question of who are the ones who abstain

and the ones who eat is less instructive to us

than is the question about their attitude

regarding the practice each adopted

and the attitude held toward the ones who behaved differently.

Those who abstained from eating meat surely did not think

they did so because of lack of faith,

rather, they were trying to keep faithful to their God

by being careful about what they ate.

Whereas the ones who eat meat, saw weakness,

the abstainers understood themselves to be obedient.^[5]

Although Paul’s initial command is for the ones who eat

to welcome the ones who abstain,

he is not just correcting the ones who eat.

The two sides in the conflict

each have their own way of contributing to it.

The ones who eat feel superior to

and so “despise” the ones who abstain,

but the ones who abstain also act improperly in this situation.

They pass judgment on the ones who eat.

The ones who abstain, with their specific understanding of what obedience to God looks like,

need to be reminded that God also accepts the ones who eat,

even though they adopt different behavior.

The ones who eat, with their more expansive diet, also serve God.

When Paul reminds the ones who abstain

that they have no right to pass judgment on another person’s servants (14:4), he is making two points

that would be obvious in the original context.

First, given the authority that a master had over a servant,

Paul is reminding them of a point he has already made in this letter:

the only one with authority to judge is God,

who is the master they all serve.

Second, the word translated as “servant” is oiketēn,

which was the term used particularly for a house servant.

The emphasis, then, is not simply on being a servant

but on being a member of the household (oikos).

This choice of words reminds them

they are members of the same household,

the household of God.

When the disagreement is about what to eat,

welcoming and accepting one another at table is not a simple matter, especially when house church gatherings included table fellowship.

The problem arises not because of what a person eats in private

but rather in the context of eating together.

The way these followers of Jesus figure out how to share food

will reveal how well they really regard each other as brothers and sisters.

I remember well, bringing in a current (well 1960’s) example,

the potentially damaging fuss

when it was discovered that one of the ladies

who contributed much loved fruit cake

to the monthly ‘fellowship tea’

actually included two tablespoons of brandy in the recipe!…

Coming right after Paul’s reference to the command

to love your neighbour as yourself (13:9)

and his reminder that the new day is dawning,

the difficulty of eating together serves as a test of obedience

and readiness.

Will they be able to put on Christ in this trying situation?

Will the ones who eat treat the ones who abstain as equals?

Will the ones who abstain refrain from passing judgment

on the expansive choices of the ones who eat?

Will each recognize the other’s behavior

as an expression of faithfulness to Jesus Christ?

The way we treat each other as Christians

when we face deep disagreement is still a test of our obedience

to the command to love one another

and of our readiness to put on Christ.

Too often Christians model competition –

-arguing for a ‘true’ theological stand,

or insisting on certain behaviours-

that breaks the body of Christ

instead of living out the faithfulness to one another

that our faithfulness to our Lord requires.

“As important as it is for each of us to come to an understanding

of how best to honor God,

we must always be ready to welcome those

whom God has already welcomed”.^[6]

My cynical concept of The Tyranny of the Weak

evaporated whilst still a youth,

though a couple of years older than when I conceived it…

about 18, rather than 15… through a memorable incident!

One of the younger ministers with the denomination I was then part of,

was in constant conflict with the Secretary of the congregation,

a rather conservative man…

who attacked the minister’s dress sense,

(echoing the Beatles’ style… )

the company he kept (non-church going youth!)

his theology… (too liberal!)

his…, you get the idea!

Nothing this minister said or did

broke down the barrier that existed between the two…

A few of us were quite concerned

about the minister’s health and well-being

because of the constant carping

and at times outright verbal attacks!

Then all of a sudden, there was a complete reversal!

Now, not only was there an absence of criticism,

there were occasional words of appreciation, praise even!

I sought out the minister, and asked, ‘what happened?!”

‘what did you do, or say?”…

He smiled, ‘nothing’ he replied.

“I just attended a Freemason function at which he was present.

Neither he nor I were aware of each other’s membership,

in different locations.

From that time, when he realised we were both members,

he changed his perception of me!” 

I was delighted for my friend the minister.

Nevertheless, being then a reflective type,

it did seem strange to me

that a common identity as Lodge members broke barriers

being brothers in Christ apparently could not? 

It also dawned on me that this is what Paul is on about in Romans,

(yes, I was reading Romans then,

reading my way through the New Testament

using the Dr William Barclay commentary series… )

…it dawned on me that our identity in Christ

should open us to each other with tolerance

and concern for each other’s well-being…

“As important as it is for each of us to come to an understanding

of how best to honor God,

we must always be ready to welcome those

whom God has already welcomed

Thus my the tyranny of the weak mentality began to dissipate

as I worked at building acceptance,

even friendship, with those whom I mentally had derided… AMEN

WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD

We Sing: TIS 650 SERVANT SONG

We Bring Our offering to God

setting aside our gifts to support the local and wider work of the church

and bless our gifts in an act of praise…

We Share Our Community Life 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Holy God,

who nevertheless welcomes us,

we pray for a global expression of the hospitality

you offer us

to be manifest through the decisions

those in charge of nations make

to include those who search for refuge at their borders…. 

Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER

Holy Lord,

who became one of us to bring us home,

we pray for political, economic and social leaders

within all nations and communities

who will heed the aspirations of those

who struggle to have shelter, food and clothing,

not to mention education and health services,

that they may cooperate to help all ‘bring home the bacon’.

Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER

Holy Spirit,

in our State, and in the United States of America,

people have voted according to their ideological stand,

expressing their values through a democratic process;

many who offered their services lost out,

grant them your peace and a renewed vision for a future;

others have been elected to positions of responsibility,

grant each of them something akin to the wisdom of Solomon

as they make decisions effecting global and community well-being..

Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER

Compassionate God,

we pray for those known to us

who each day deal with pain and debilitating health issues,

for them we pray the prayer Paul prayed:

May the God of hope

fill you with all joy and peace in believing,

so that you may abound in hope

by the power of the Holy Spirit.

AMEN

WE GO OUT TO SERVE GOD

We Sing: TIS 276 THERE’S A LIGHT UPON THE MOUNTAIN 4vv

sending out

Let us go as a people

who pursue what makes for peace

and for mutual edification,

welcoming each other,

who refuse to assess and despise each other

because of differences in attitudes and behaviour,

only too aware that in fact it will be our Lord

who assesses each of us…

uniting instead in our witness to Christ

whose we are

and to whom in all things we offer thanks!

blessing:

The grace of Christ Jesus

keep you as his in life and death,

the love of God

hold you strong in peace when all else fails,

the friendship of the Spirit

keep you in holy joy,

now and evermore. AMEN, AMEN, AMEN

---

[1] Byrne, B. (1996). Romans. (D. J. Harrington, Ed.) (Vol. 6, pp. 406–407). Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press.

He continues: Within this overall framework, the sequence unfolds in four parts: 14:1–12; 14:13–23; 15:1–6; 15:7–13. The block making up 14:1–12 consists of an appeal for tolerance that is, formally at least, addressed to two groups. V 13 functions as a bridge to a new section, 14:13–23, where the appeal is far more exclusively directed to the “strong in faith,” the central argument (reiterated three times: v 13b, v 15, vv 20–21) being that of not putting a stumbling block in the way of the brother or sister for whom Christ died, so causing his or her ruin. This appeal to the “strong” is renewed in a reflection, 15:1–6, upon the example of Christ foreshadowed in the scriptures (vv 3–4), capped off by an extended prayer-wish (vv 5–6). Though this last item would provide an appropriate conclusion to the entire instruction, the “inclusion” formed by the section commending mutual acceptance, 15:7–13 (cf. 14:1) suggests that it too ought be seen as the true conclusion of the overall instruction (note the further prayer-wish in v 13).

[2] Chakoian , Christine (2020) CHRISTIAN CENTURY   September 11, 2020

[3] Byrne B. (1996) op. cit. p.404-06.

[4] Grieb, A. Katherine. (2002) The Story of Romans (p. 127). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition

^[5] Lancaster, S. H. (2015). Romans. (A. P. Pauw & W. C. Placher, Eds.) (First edition, pp. 230–231). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

^[6] Lancaster, S. H. (2015). Romans. (A. P. Pauw & W. C. Placher, Eds.) (First edition, pp. 233–234). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.